City Of Angels
by Jelly Bean Jenna
Summary: Sam Swarek a wealthy playboy tangles with death one night & nearly claims the life of an innocent bystander. They are unknowingly entwined in more than just the new job that Sam offers Andy to make amends for his actions without her knowing the truth behind his motives. & then there is the Darkness, the one that has promised Sam his life in return for an innocent soul.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again & welcome to my new one!**

**This, as most of what I write is AU and follows a completely different route than what the characters in the show do for a living. **

**This prologue is just to see what kind of response it will have so hope you'll let me know if it is grabbed your attention. It will contain no Sam & Andy, but the rest of the chapters will!**

**Summery; Sam Swarek, Charming, Charismatic, a Selfish and Wealthy playboy tangles with death one night and nearly claims the life of an innocent bystander. They are unknowingly entwined in more than just the new job that Sam offers Andy to make amends for his actions without her knowing the truth behind his motives. And then there is the Darkness, the one that has promised Sam his life in return for an innocent soul. **

**Chapter 1- Prologue**

**Set somewhere far away in a time unknown. **

The heavy footfalls neared, their echo through the emptiness driving sadness through her, but never fear.

The scrape of metal across the spanish style stone wall made her shiver, a sound so eerie that it caused a rash of shivers to tear down her spine as she inhaled a slow breath that quivered.

"I can smell your fear" Eli said when his sword reached the end of the wall and he ran out of stones to scrape it against. He spoke in the old language, his pronunciation of the words exact.

"I have no fear" Akira said as she stepped out from behind the wall that had provided momentary shelter from his dark, piercing orbs.

Eli's face twisted into a look of sheer delight when he set eyes on her, moonlight seeping through what was left of the outer walls of the cobblestone chapel as flames of devastation flickered in the distance and a billow of black smoke clouded across the night sky and secluded the stars.

With a chilling swoosh, Eli's wings spread out and he glided forward until he had the tip of his sword under her chin, its jagged edge pricking at her skin as the cold metal burned her.

"Where is the child?" His cold voice bellowed through the air, a haggard edge to it as his eyes flashed with more emptiness than what any soul should have to bare.

"She is safe" her voice was steady as she spoke, the tone strong and solid.

"I doubt that" his tone leaked sarcasm as he retorted his answer, a sneer on his lips as they curved upwards in the corners.

Eli tilted his head to the side and watched Akira for signs of fear or anticipation but all he found in her eyes was hope, and love shining brightly.

"You would hide her and sacrifice your entire life here? For her? While your world burns and the embers shed ash into the wind you would rather protect her than your own kind?" He almost laughed the words out, the irony not passed over.

The child was as Akira was, yet she was always considered different.

"As you would expect of me Eli, yes I would. I would sacrifice it all a hundred times over- for her" Akira said as a soft breeze blew through the collapsed roof and her long red hair fluttered in it lightly.

Eli let out a booming laugh, its cold tone matched by his chiseled jaw; both were equally hard.

"Why? Why allow this if you can stop it? All you have to do is tell me where she is?". Eli's eyebrows knitted together as he handed her the option of salvation.

"Never" she sang out sweetly. She just couldn't bring herself to tell him where the child was. If she did then life as they knew it would be over.

There would be no reclaming the good as evil took over and doomed them all to a fate worse than death itself.

Eli let out a growl and dropped his blade from her face, his face much closer to hers as he spoke this time "Two hundred years of this insolent game and you have not learned one single thing. Lifetime after lifetime that you give her she turns, and shuns you, she crosses over to the dark side and you demand a rematch or another chance and yet she fails you and your kind over and over again". Eli spoke with a sneer, sick pleasure twisted around each syllable as he whispered them baring the truth into her ear.

"I will not give up Eli, I will not believe that she is doomed to betray us this time"

Her words seemed to cut through Eli, or hit a nerve because he winced and drew in a ragged breath.

"What have you done?" He suddenly shouted into her ear making her jump as his temper rose and he became infuriated.

"You have been amongst the humans" Eli continued, his voice reaching a darker tone after he inhaled the air close to her hair.

"Tell me you did not" his voice became nothing more than a whisper a few seconds later as he spoke again.

"Deny me the agony of ceasing your existence here and now" his breath was flush against her skin as he moved to the side and stood behind her, his fingers entwining slowly through her loose strands of hair.

"You know the rules Akira, and yet you would break them to save the child" she could tell that he was searching for understanding in her actions, that he was failing to see why she had gone against the biggest rule that her kind had.

"Why?" His voice was pleading, searching for resolution.

"It is what we were born to do Eli. To love and cherish, to protect and save. You of all people should know that, and why she is so important".

Eli pulled her head back a fraction, his hand using her hair to secure her in place once he had her angled in the right position to stare into her eyes.

He must have sensed the others just as she had because in the amount of time it took her to take one final sweeping gaze of his empty soul, he let her go and shoved her forwards into the sheltered arms of his enemies.

"I will find her, and when I do you will reap despair and abandon this foolish idea that you can save the universe by showering it with white lights and love; something that doesn't exist and will never save anyone".

With a powerful flap of his wings Eli ascended the air above them, the dark feathers reflecting shades of grey. Akira wasn't sure if it was age or the moonlight that shimmered streaks of grey against the dark feathers, but somehow she knew that Eli was different, that he had changed.

Sebastian's embrace did nothing to still the tremble that her body became riddled with, even the strong embrace of her sibling failing to sooth her emotions as they tread into heartbreak.

"It is done?" He whispered into her ear.

"It is done" she confirmed.

"It is best" he tried to pacify her as others joined them in the ruins of a once beautiful city.

The war had been raging since long before any of them had existed, the oldest amongst them thriving for only 350 years. And yet as the way things were those who possessed eyes were left to the tortuous view of a city once filled with love and clean air as it burnt down after a onslaught of evil savagely raided it seeking the child.

Why the demons had come wasn't the question, they knew why, the question was how to keep the child safe, how to shy her away from the demons.

Hiding her among the humans was their last option even though any kind of contact with the humans was forbidden unless it was deemed appropriate and sanctioned by the Ministry. That happened few and far between, only the young and old or those that had a truly good soul were privileged to that kind of honor.

The humans often called them their Guardian Angels in an instance when they had been seen, but truthfully; they were more. They were the ones that protected them, sheltered them from the other side- the evil that threatened to take them into its grasp and squeeze their existence out of them.

"It should not be this way Sebastian" Akira said as her brother led her out of the chapel and towards a small group that had gathered on the burnt grass. The grounds had once been fields of plush green grass, now it was dark and lifeless just as Eli's eyes had become.

"It is the prophecy Akira" Sebastian squeezed her hand lightly in a show of affection.

"But it does not make it any less painful" she said as she let her lips brush against his cheek in a fond farewell.

She was to be taken away and hidden in a place of safety until the war was over because she knew where the child had been given shelter amongst the humans. She was the one that had blessed the humans with her soul, she was the one who decided that this was to be the child's new home.

"I will miss seeing your smile and hearing your laughter" Sabastian whispered into her ear as he embraced her farewell.

Katya, Sebastian's betrothed was to escort Akira to the earthly boundary and then she too would bid farewell.

Akira would then venture off alone and leave her aura at the boundary along with her wings whereby she would trade her gifts for a human life.

It was a heavy price to pay but in the end it would be worth it.

She had already chosen the form that she was to take, that of one who was good and honest save for a few occasions where where they had drifted off the path to salvation.

Taking a last teary look at the faces of her loved ones, Akira bowed in gratitude for their love and faith in her to do this.

It had been bestowed on her as it was truly her penance for a mistake that she made. She was the cause of this war, the factor that had caused them to become what they were today.

Her and Eli.

Polar opposites, black and white, good and evil.

But he hadn't always been evil, he had been pure and it was her doing that he was drawn to the other side where his wings colored black and his eyes emptied out to reflect nothing but what they saw.

If she had not told him that it had been prophesied that an Angel of their caliber and one from the dark side would create life, then perhaps he would never have gone to seek out the evil that now possessed him. He would never have traded his soul to remain a part of her existence when her father denied his request to wed her.

If she had merely left when the dreams had started then perhaps things would be different now.

But Eli was persistent, he would have followed her no matter where she went.

But her father would still be alive and her city would look far different from the tarnished remains that it was now constructed of.

So many lives had been lost, and yet it was only the beginning.

"Fare thee well Sebastian" Akira said and stepped out of his embrace.

"Fare thee well dear sister" he returned her sentiment and then she was gone- into the unknown.

***** Thanks for reading, hope you're curious!**

**Have an awesome day!**

**Jelly Bean Jenna©**


	2. Revenge

**Welcome to another newbie!**

**Hope you'll all enjoy it. **

**This, as most of what I write is AU and follows a completely different route than what the characters in the show do for a living. **

**Disclaimer; Nope not mine! Only this storyline & all the typo's belong to me. **

**Chapter 2- Revenge. **

This drive home was harder than any she had ever made before this one.

Along with the wheels running over the tarmac, her heart sagged with every mile that she clocked closer to home as reminders of sorrow plagued through her.

Home.

The word made her shudder, this hadn't been her home in a little over six years but somehow the terminology still stuck.

The weather wasn't helping her mood tonight either, the soft pitter-patter of the rain beating down on her windscreen not helping visibility as she navigated the twists and turns in the road cautiously.

The gloom of the rain clouds had turned a sunny day into a dark and void night.

The fact that it was dark was just another painful thorn in her side; but, if she didn't make the trip in the dark she'd miss the whole reason that she was making a brief appearance here.

And brief it would be.

Her boss was kind, he just wasn't crazy enough to give her an extended period of time off.

Memories of the call from her Dad returned, his sadness evident in his voice as her hand adjusted the steering wheel slightly to the right and she eased her foot onto the brake pedal to tap it slightly as she turned out of the turn, a dark road ahead of her set in light tufts of mist.

Her Dad had called to tell her that his lifetime friend had been gunned down, a man that had been like a second father to her and helped her own Dad raise her after her mother left them when she was in the second grade.

The thoughts made her eyes well up with fresh tears, her lids blinking rapidly to clear her vision as everything in sight began to swim.

Oliver Shaw, a man of wisdom and value; something she had rarely seen since she left home to start her career and her adult life in a place far away from her troubled childhood. And now the man was nothing more than a distant memory and a figment of fondness that squeezed her heart, just as her mother still managed to do.

The radio zoned out at that moment, a blast of static forcing its way through the speakers as it lost signal and the radio station that she had it tuned into became nothing more than an intruding noise.

"Arg" she groaned loudly as her gaze dropped to guide her hand to the button that would shut the annoying sound off with a gentle tap.

Her gaze moved to the radio, just for a split second, before it lifted back up and she found headlights bearing down on her.

...

He was done.

Finished.

Over it.

Nothing made sense anymore, nothing mattered anymore.

Nothing except an end to the humiliation and resentment that was only clouded over by the pure, burning rage he felt well inside his chest cavity at this very moment.

He'd spent his adult life making it work, fighting to keep his lives separate- only to have it all come crashing down within seconds. All made worthless.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, wasn't meant to end this way, but- it had and there was no undoing it.

And the entire time parts of the truth had been staring him in the face, the blond hair and green eyes were a testament to his own stupidity, his own foolishness.

His windscreen wipers dragged across the shatterproof glass slowly, the swooshing sound it made barely audible above the raindrops as they pelted down on the heavy metal above him. The cars interior had been engulfed by silence since he had left home, only the sounds of the rain and the tires running over cats-eyes when he changed lanes audible. He hadn't bothered turning the radio on, more noise would just add to his distractions right now.

He shouldn't even be driving, not after the three-quarter bottle of whiskey he'd had, nor should he be attempting it now that the skies were pelting down in vengeance. And he had absolutely no idea where he was even going. This drive had no destination, he just needed an escape and this was it.

**'He's not yours Sam'** the words flashed through his mind, another flare of rage moving to pull through him, the final strings of restraint snapping as he changed lanes and headed straight for the oncoming lights. His hands tightened their grip around the steering wheel, blood flow decreasing in the limbs as his skin turned white from the force he was bracing himself with.

...

She panicked.

Her breath caught in her lungs, their movements stalling as they refused to exhale.

In an instant she let her brain kick in and her hand moved to the lights where it grabbed hold of the end of the knob and she flashed her lights to brights and then back to their regular lighting hoping that the car aimed straight at her would move back into its own lane. Her heartbeat was suddenly erratic and so loud that she was sure the entire universe would hear it.

When nothing changed, she repeated the motion more frantically, her eyes drifting over to the shimmer of metal to her left that signaled no room to move between the lane she was in and the metal barrier that lined her lane.

The oncoming car was still on a collision course with her, her mind screaming that it was just a bunch of board kids playing chicken on a lonely road in the middle of the night. She contemplated switching over to the other lane, but if they moved back then they would still crash head-on.

As she stared out the windscreen, images of her life flashed through her mind.

Most of the memories were of her Dad, and Oliver, plenty of them from when she still thought that pigtails were funky.

Seconds before impact, she let out a long breath and closed her eyes while her foot clamped down on the break pedal and she felt the tires lock before they aqua planed across the wet tar...

...

He didn't care who was in the car crawling towards him. He really didn't give a shit if they had family, or health insurance to cover this- they were merely a means to an end.

Literally.

An end to his misery.

He felt the slow curvature of a smile tug the edges of his lips up before a sudden jolt made the windscreen fly closer as shards of glass ricocheted off the dash.

...

Sam's eyelids were heavy.

But he felt the need to open them.

Great, if he was having conscious thoughts then it meant that he had failed in his attempt to end his misery, and his life. He was effectively still alive.

But oddly enough, there was no pain. No searing heat tearing through him like he had expected there to be in this moment, in the aftermath of his reckless, heated decision.

Instead he felt...weightless.

The air around him was warm and dry, the sounds of silence however sounding warped as it wavered and distorted.

Opening his eyes Sam felt his legs give a tremor as reality sunk in.

He was standing next to the mangled wreckage of the two cars, a mass of tangled metal and debris littering the tarmac. Lightning cascaded across the night sky, a shimmer of glass lit up in its path.

Funny thing was, it was still raining- but he was dry. Completely bone dry.

And sober.

_'What have I done'_ sprang to mind as a surge of emotions ripped its way through him. Guilt ranking high above the others.

"Feels good doesn't it" a voice drew his attention and made Sam's attention snap to his left where he found a man standing beside him on the shoulder of the road.

"Carnage and destruction, although I didn't see this coming" the man stared straight ahead, his eyes appraising the damage like he approved.

Sam was searching for his voice, but it had deserted him. His vocal cords were frozen and his mind blurring with an array of thoughts and questions that was so forceful it made him shut down.

"But the view was spectacular, she didn't even see it coming". The man all but drawled out, he was just short of doing a happy dance in some sick and twisted way.

Sam moved to take a step forwards but he was glued to where he stood, unable to move. A sudden rush of noise filling his ears before the man let out a dry laugh.

"Do you hear that? She's giving up".

What Sam heard sounded like a drum roll, a really loud heartbeat and it was slowly weakening and slowing down. Soon it would undoubtedly come to a complete standstill and just stop when it gave out.

And still, he was transfixed to that one spot where he stood helpless other than to look and listen.

"Fells good, doesn't it" the man stated it, he wasn't questioning the feelings Sam felt looking at the destruction he had caused. It was a repetitive, rhetorical sentence, Sam's nerves lighting up more than they already were.

And still, Sam's voice was nothing more than a ghost.

His eyes took the mans features in, his head able to turn to the side although the rest of his body was still locked in concrete.

"No, you're not dead, yet" the man looked straight at him in that instant, Sam forgetting everything except the look in his eyes.

The fact that the man voiced the exact thought he was thinking at that given moment didn't bother him either, no the look in the mans eyes were all he focused on.

They were pitch black, there was no white around the iris, or any signs of anything other that the vacant black orbs that looked into his soul. They were just empty; a mirror to a dead soul.

Taking more of the mans appearance in, Sam noticed that he looked like a normal guy, in his black jeans and black T-shirt. There wasn't anything other than black on him, even his neatly cropped hair was black. He was well built, his shirt sleeves stiffly encasing his rippling muscles.

His jaw line was hard, his expression emotionless as much as his eyes were. The guy looked hard-core.

"You're angry, all that buried rage coming back to the surface" the man sneered.

And Sam snapped.

It had been years since his rage had been a deciding factor in his life- not since the day he...

"You want revenge". The man said a second after inhaling a long sniff directed towards Sam.

"Listen Buddy, I don't know who you are, or what you want but stop with the crap okay" Sam's voice grew husky with his displeasure of the company, one foot moving then the other and then another small step taken towards the car that he crashed into.

He needed to see if the woman's heartbeat was still there or not. He couldn't bare the death of another on his conscious.

His conscience not something he ever thought he had. A guy like him couldn't afford to have that dragging him down.

Sam took another small step forwards before a red hot pain pulled through his entire body and his knees gave way. They hit the tar, but he didn't even feel that, all he felt was the undeniable squeeze an invisible hand gave his heart. It stole his breath away.

"Do **not **walk away from me" the voice drew closer, Sam's vision blurring as another round of intense pain rocked his body. Black boots stepped into view under his dropped gaze and stood still in front of him. The pain eased up marginally and Sam was able to lift his head enough to watch the man squat down in front of him so that they were now eye level.

"Do you know who I am or what I can do? Do you have any idea?" The man's voice took a sharp edge to it, Sam's spine shuddering with a chill.

"That was merely a taste".

The man lifted his hand up and held it palm open in the direction of the car. He began closing his fingers, curling the nimble limbs towards his palm as a blood curdling scream began ripping through the air.

"Stop" Sam managed to get out as the high pitched scream intensified.

The man did, his hand retracting to in front of him and the scream disappearing.

"What's changed? You wanted this, you wanted to die and you didn't care who was in that car".

"I wanted revenge" Sam yelled out, his voice razor sharp as it cut through the air and his secret admission became free.

"Revenge?" The mans face lit up at the word like he found some sick pleasure in hearing it tumble so carelessly from Sam's lips.

Sam's head hung again, a feeling of desolate emptiness filling him.

"Given a choice now, would you still want revenge?". The final strains of the searing pain left Sam as the stranger found some kind of delight in what he was hearing.

"Yes" it came out weakly but it was still there.

"What would you give to execute that, exactly?" The man took a deep breath and waited for Sam to answer.

Sam's mind turned over the options he had to offer in exchange.

He had money.

He had power.

He could trade one of his cars or the penthouse suit downtown...

"I want something more...my style". The man stood up and Sam found himself pulled up to his feet.

"Something tangible". The mans face was lost in sheer ecstasy in that moment before his smile faded and he peered at Sam like he was issuing a challenge.

"I want a soul" the man said.

And Sam burst out laughing.

He must have hit his head pretty damn hard if he was imagining a stranger trying to trade his life in return for a soul.

He had officially lost it, gone over the deep end. He had snapped.

Sam let out his roar of a laugh as he looked up and down the dark street.

When he turned back to what he decided was his conscious talking Sam's heart skipped a beat and once again he felt a stabbing pain run through his chest.

"You find it funny human? Well let's take a walk on the wild side".

Sam was sure that he was pretty close to passing out when he felt his eyes drooping. A bright white light suddenly flashed around of them, everything in sight shattering into silver and blue shades that shimmered with white.

The world spun, and everything blurred but soon enough Sam was able to focus on more than the pain and light.

An array of images sped passed, times from Sam's life that he'd rather forget. Most of his past splintered into view and within seconds it was gone and they were back standing on the roadside.

"You see Mr Swarek, I know all about you. I know who you are, and the things you have done. I know what's inside you, what's begging to be freed".

"That's not who I am anymore". Sam hissed out without taking a breath.

"Really? Then why crash into her? Why take the life of an innocent when you could have put a gun to your head or jumped from the bridge?".

Sam didn't really have an answer for that, she was just a casualty in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"But, I can make that go away too".

That had Sam's attention.

"I will save her as a part of our deal".

"Can you guarantee that?" He decided that he might as well go along for the imaginary ride. It was his hallucination, or his fantasy anyway.

"Completely, safe and sound. But then you owe me one small thing in return".

Sam nodded and waited for his sick companion to continue.

"Not only will you give me a soul, but you will give me a good one, one that is pure at heart. But it will come with a price".

Sam gave it some consideration, but not the serious kind. He was now totally convinced that he was in a coma somewhere and that this was his guilt riding him for causing the accident.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever you want Buddy".

Sam suddenly felt the weightlessness he had felt earlier return as a feint sound like wailing began to screech through the air somewhere in the distance.

His legs resumed their shaky stance and seconds later his face was tumbling towards the tarmac as dark shadows drew closer...

*******Thanks for reading, hope you would like to see more? Let me know & your wish shall be granted...**

**Have an awesome day!**

**Jelly Bean Jenna©**


	3. Bright Lights

**Welcome back! Thank you all for the amazing response so far! I'm really looking forward to writing this one for some odd reason!**

**Thanks to kelly2727, Rookie Blue SA & Australia on Facebook & of course all the awesome girls on Twitter!**

**Chapter 3- Bright Lights. **

The light...

It was so... Bright and warm and so... Beautiful.

It replaced the inside of her car, the grey's of the metals and spider web of shattered windscreen all changing to the bright white of the light as it engulfed her.

"Andrea".

The voice caused her to jump, not really in fright, but more from the shock of who's voice it was.

As she whirled around, the air shifted as light tremors took over her body. She was no longer in her car, now she was on the side of the road. "Uncle Ollie". Hidden tears traced their way through the cords of her words, her eyes welling at the sight that met her once she had fully turned around and faced where the voice came from.

"I'm dead aren't I". She stated what she found obvious, he was dead and if she was seeing him then her assumption was that she was too.

"No Child".

Andy tilted her head to the side and looked at the apportion.

It looked like Oliver, and sounded like him; but it didn't speak like him. Not even remotely close.

"You're not Oliver" she stammered out and began taking marginal steps back away from whatever stood before her.

"No, but you have nothing to fear". The mirage spoke again, this time Oliver's face smiling a familiar smile at her. "We use a form comfortable to...communicate" Oliver transformed into a woman, Andy feeling like she suddenly wanted to fall over.

"I mean you no harm" the woman was barely older than Andy herself, but somehow Andy sensed that she just might be way older than she appeared. She spoke in proper english, and used no slang whatsoever.

"What are you?" Andy asked when the form drifted closer. She had been about ten feet away, now she was perhaps three feet away. The woman seemed to gloat rather than step, her stride so graceful that Andy backed up another step.

"I am Leyla". The woman said and smiled warmly. Saying her own name seemed to give her great joy.

"What are you?" Andy asked without really caring if she was about to offend the woman. It wasn't like any of this was normal so why stick to polite formalities?

"I am... That doesn't matter. Right now I need you to wake up" the woman's voice rose an octave Andy noticing the subtle hint of something she tried to hide.

"But..." Andy wasn't done with her questions yet. She whirled around just in time to catch a flash of silver light before it turned into a shadow.

"Wake up Andrea, wake up" the woman said again, this time Andy heard the unmistakable tinge of fear that wrapped its way into the woman's voice.

Andy clenched her eyelids closed, the light so bright that she couldn't see. The light seemed to draw closer, a heat radiating from it as it moved over Andy and her skin set on fire.

Curious to the source of the heat Andy cracked an eyelid and peered out to find herself on her back with lights running overhead.

She heard voices as they rambled away, and the squeak of wheels as they were set in motion. There were beeps and footsteps, doors opening and closing.

Dizziness made her stomach lurch, the flickering of the lights making her eyes close again.

Everything hurt, her head, her face, even her left foot's toes felt like they were on fire but right now that was probably a good sign considering she'd been in a massive accident.

The sounds that were close began to fade, they grew distant and feint until there was a passive silence.

Andy opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by the warm light again, this time a shed of fear rolling through her too.

"Don't be afraid, you will not be harmed" Leyla appeared in front of Andy again. The woman sounded like she was from a different time, she spoke with an accent too, one that Andy couldn't quite place.

"Um, what is this?" Andy swept her hand around in the air as she asked. This time they were surrounded by shades of white and grey as they melted together. Some were bright, others dull, but still it was an amazing collection and a sight to behold.

"The afterlife".

"Um, okay" Andy said while whirling around and drinking the sight of sheer bright lights in. She must have hit her head pretty hard, or she had died in the accident.

"Your head yes, but no, your body is still alive".

Andy's attention fled across the distance between them where it settled on the woman before her as she voiced answers to Andy's mental ramblings.

"If I'm not dead then why am I in the afterlife?" Andy questioned as she held back a nervous laugh.

She had really lost it.

"You are not in it, you are outside the gates" the woman explained although Andy didn't see anything other than the woman and sharp lights. Maybe that was an aftereffect of the accident- the final images she saw namely the oncoming cars headlights- on automatic rerun.

"You are not ready"

"Ready for what exactly?" Andy asked because the stranger sure wasn't open to giving her more than what she asked for.

"Andrea, your time on Earth has not yet come to an end. You have one final task, a last assignment if you wish, before your soul will come to rest here".

Okay then, like that wasn't creepy.

Afterlife, souls, death.

She really should look into getting a shrink. Or maybe she needed a really long vacation, on a tropical island, away from civilization.

"Okay, nice meeting you but I need to go now" Andy said and then intended on walking away but there wasn't really anywhere to go.

A sharp flash drew her attention upwards as a rainbow of colors surged together as though they were a painting being etched on a fluffy white canvas.

"Wh...what is that?" Andy asked pointing to the images from her life.

"You have a good soul Andy, one that is pure and good. Remember that above all else, hold on to that because it is all that will save you from the darkness...".

As Andy turned to seek Leyla out the pale whites turned to dirty grey's and sudden fear cursed through her veins.

Her body suddenly felt like she was falling and then it was over- silence and something hard under her as she crashed into it and everything simply fell away...

...

His tongue stuck to the inside of his cheek as he tried to swallow and wet his mouth.

His head felt thick and heavy, his eyes wanting to open but being unable to lift their own heavy weight.

The smell of perfume mingled with another familiar aroma, but the perfume was so overwhelming that it drowned the other smells out.

A few sounds where audible, a running wheel that needed oiling as it ran across a floor with a squeak. A few voices and shuffled footsteps. An annoying alarm clock, or alarm system that was beeping incessantly.

Cracking his eyes open he found the worried face of Isabel Swarek staring at him from across the room.

Great, he wakes up wherever he is and his mother is watching him.

"Sammy?" Her voice had none of its usual edge as she spoke his name and found her feet, her heels clacking against the floor as she rushed across the room to his bedside.

He didn't answer her question, instead he focused on his surroundings and tried to ascertain exactly where he was.

Drawn blinds hung over the windows and the walls were all white. There was a bedside table to his left and a heart monitor and IV stand to his right.

Great- hospital room.

"Oh thank God" his mother murmured into his ear as she smoothed a hand across his forehead.

Suddenly he wasn't in the hospital room anymore, he was standing in the middle of the road staring at the destruction that he had caused.

"The woman?" He managed to croak out once he fled back to the present.

"I took care of it Sam, you have nothing to worry about" his mother reassured him but it wasn't what he wanted to hear. He wanted to know if she had made it, if she was still alive.

"No, is she alive?" Sam said trying to sit up only to have his mothers hand push his shoulder back down.

"I said it's been taken care of".

Sam gave his mother a look that said so much without saying a word. "Yes, but she won't be a problem".

At that moment the door opened and Sam looked up into the face of Doctor Mae, his regular physician, the conversation with his mother having ended abruptly.

...

Tommy McNally clutched his daughter's hand as he allowed himself to remember her riding her bike with training wheels wearing pigtails and mismatched shoe laces.

He'd spent the better part of two days doing this exact same thing, sitting here and waiting for her to wake up while holding her hand and telling her funny stories about his rookie days on the force with Oliver.

He'd gotten the call about her accident a little after seven pm and had prayed all the way here that she would pull through because he couldn't face losing her.

The doctors had reassured him that she was going to be okay, but she had yet to regain consciousness which they didn't really understand and couldn't explain so they labeled it as a self-inflicted coma because she was probably tired.

He'd actually laughed in the doctors face when she told him that, because the woman didn't know Andy so how would she know if she was tired or not.

Traci, Andy's oldest friend had been stopping by and offering to stay with her so that he could go home and sleep but sleep evaded him like good hair days avoided most people. He'd rush home shower and return less than an hour later hoping that this time he'd find her awake.

But each time he found her eyes closed and her face creased just like it would when she was concentrating or contemplating something.

Squeezing her hand he began his night vidual by starting with a story that spanned three generations, it was the one of when he met Claire Summers and how Andy came to be...

...

Sam eyed his mother from the wheelchair the morning after regaining consciousness.

He was about to be released from the hospital and they wouldn't let him leave on his own two feet, nope he had to be wheeled out the door by a nurse to the car that his mother had waiting.

Despite several questions that he had asked her about what exactly she had done to take care of 'it' he had yet to receive any formidable answers other that the same repetitive _'she won't be a problem' _or _'just concentrate on getting better'_ that she had given him.

It became clear that she had the accident covered up when the police arrived and asked him if he saw the car that ran him over, and then Doctor Mae handed his mother his medical records from this short hospital visit along with a clean bill of health and a statement that said "You are a very lucky man Mr Swarek" before he too left the room and Sam with more questions.

Marcus, his mothers driver had been hovering close by the entire time too and he looked tired so Sam counted on that as being due to lack of sleep because he had been out cleaning up his mess before it became the highlight of all the news channels.

"Ready to go home?" His mother smiled sweetly as she returned his watchful glance.

The nurse took hold of the wheelchairs handles and so began the push towards the front door and freedom.

Turning the corner Sam looked down the long hallway as he watched medics and patients circulating the hallways while doctors and nurses carried on with their sworn duties.

Passing doorways as the moved Sam paid attention to what was in front of him until the nurse stopped the wheelchair and handed him his discharge forms.

An unseen force drew Sam's attention to the left where a door stood slightly ajar. It was as though he was being pulled to look into that room.

It looked like every other room in the hospital except for the occupants.

Sam saw a middle aged man holding the hand of a woman who was laying on her side facing away from the door so Sam couldn't see her face. The mans however was cast in sorrow as his lips moved slowly and he spoke to the woman in a hushed tone, his undivided attention settled on her.

Leaning back slightly Sam caught a flash of rich, dark brown hair that spread across a stale white pillow.

She had the same deep tones in her hair as the woman he'd crashed into.

It was her.

Sam moved to stand up, but the nurse stopped him just as a collection of noise flooded the hallway and a spate of flashing lights went off as hordes of reporters flooded the room.

Marcus stepped between Sam and the door as the reporters surged forwards taking photos of Sam and hurling questions at him fiercely but his attention was solely focused on the room to his left.

A random hand made the wheelchair move as security arrived and pushed the reporters back while Marcus guided Isabel back down the hallway and Sam followed with someone pushing him at a speed faster than what the nurse had.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder Sam found Reeve walking behind him, his own driver and bodyguard of sorts having appeared from nowhere.

As they turned another corner Sam tried to get another look into the room where he was sure the woman he had nearly killed lay, but the attempt was in vain because he was too far away by now.

Slipping out of a side entrance Sam was whisked away to the safety of a car with darkly tinted windows.

Isabel sat in the back with him while Marcus sat in the passenger seat and Reeve took the wheel.

Within minutes they were on the interstate heading to the last place that he wanted to be- his mothers house.

He would much rather return to his own home but given the fact that it was from there that he ran he relented and accepted his mothers offer for him to return home until he was well, not that he had suffered an injuries in the accident.

No scratches, no scrapes. Not even a bruise.

It was like a miracle, but somehow he knew that nothing good would come from him being saved.

******Welcome to the bottom again! These chapter seem to go way too quickly!**

**So who's here & wants more?**

**Jelly Bean Jenna©**


	4. Stuck

**You guys are amazing! Thank you all for your awesome review & the favs & follows!**

**Thank you to the regulars & welcome to all the newbies! **

**Chapter 4- Stuck. **

A sudden spasm caused her to regain some consciousness, a gasp sounding through the room as she inhaled a forceful breath.

In the moments before her eyes opened everything felt surreal. Her breathing became erratic and her limbs trembled with such force that even not fully aware of what was happening, she knew that something was wrong.

When her eyes flew open it took a while for her hazy vision to fade and everything around her to come into focus, her Dads worried face the first thing that she saw.

His face relaxed and his lips curved up at the edges as his eyes blinked rapidly.

After a few moments she heard her name over and over again, a waiver in his tone telling her that he somehow didn't think that they'd be sharing this moment.

"Wh..where am I?" Her voice was course and haggard as she spoke, so her dad stood up and moved to pour her a glass of water before holding it out to her.

She tried to move but her back hurt, a painful sting burning across her shoulders.

She winced and her dad immediately chastised her by saying "Easy" as he reached out and helped her up into a sitting position.

Andy took a thirsty sip of the water and was grateful that it was still cool enough to quench her thirst partially.

"What happened?" Andy asked when her dad resumed his seat in the chair next to her bedside. It was obvious that she was in the hospital so that question had been actually been rather pointless.

"You had an accident".

Memories revealed themselves in a splurge of flashing lights and raindrops.

She remembered the other car, and the radio zoning out. The woman and the white hot searing pain that she felt at one point.

"The other driver?" She asked blocking the images from her mind in a bid to cling to her sanity and erase the mild case of delusions that she had experienced.

"What other driver?"

"The car I hit Dad".

"Andy, there wasn't another car. You spun out and rolled"

What! That wasn't right.

"Dad, a car was in my lane and they didn't move". Andy said.

"Honey, you have a concussion..."

"No Dad, I hit the other car. I could see the guy in it, but just for a second".

"Sweetheart, I swear, you were alone on that road".

"Dad..."

"Andy, please don't freak out now okay. You were alone, I saw the photos. There was no other car. It was raining so you probably slid out and rolled".

Andy stared at her dad while listening to what he was saying but none of it made sense. She knew what she saw so how was it possible for there to have been no other car? It was why she crashed in the first place.

Andy let out a scowl at her dads stern expression and slid down a little while trying to get comfortable but her back was still on fire.

"Road rash" her dad cleared up confusing her even more.

"You were thrown from your car and probably slid across the tar on your back. Besides that you have a concussion and a few bruises and cuts and scrapes. You were very lucky Andy".

Andy searched what she could remember for images of her being outside her car but the only ones that she could find were the ones where she was talking with a woman that sounded like she was trapped in the wrong time zone.

She found no recollection whatsoever of being on the tarmac on her back.

She remembered her tires locked as they aqua planed across the wet surface and then there was the sound of metal crunching and screeching when impact was made. She could clearly see herself opening her eyes as the world tilted to the side and it felt like she was being thrown up into the air before she met the ground with a sudden, painful force. Next she visualized coming to a dead stop, tilted on her side as she hung at an odd angle, the world still tilted on an unusual axis.

And that was when she looked through the broken and cracked windscreen to see a mass of dark hair watching her from the road.

The man was out of his vehicle and kneeling on the tar, his body contorted into an extremely painful pose. His face was obscured from view as his head hung down but her wavering vision wouldn't have allowed her to make out his features that far away in any case.

"Andy?" Her dad's voice pulled through the fog of the highway and her head snapped up to meet his concerned gaze. "Where did you just go?" He asked.

"I went through the accident Dad, there was another car" she repeated sounding impossibly close to tears.

"Oh sweetheart. I know you were scared and that it was traumatic, but I swear you were alone. You'll remember when the shock wears off" her Dad patted her hand in a reassuring motion.

Andy let out a strangled sigh. She was frustrated too because she just wanted to know if the guy that crashed into her had survived or not.

But how do you explain to someone that wasn't there that what you saw was real and not a figment of your imagination or a ghost?

"Get some rest" her Dad said as he resumed holding her hand and she let herself be drawn away into the arms of sleep.

...

"Want Mrs Stone to make you something to eat?" His mother asked as they entered the front door of her home.

Sam really wasn't hungry nor did he feel like going through the motions of acting like he had a normal relationship with his mother when in fact the only reason that he agreed to come here was because he didn't know what he'd face when he returned to his own home.

"Nope" Sam said crossing the entrance hall and stepping into the drawing room where he paused for a moment before turning around to face his mother. "Where's Sarah?".

That was the only reason that he kept up appearances with his mother- for his sisters sake.

"She's out with friends" his mother said.

"Does she know I'm coming home?"

"She's actually the one that suggested it Sam" Isabel said sounding like the topic brought her displeasure.

The front door burst open and Sarah came skipping into the room as she sang his name out.

"Sammy".

She flew across the room and crashed into him as he returned her hug with one of his own.

"You're okay" she said sounding like it was Christmas morning.

"Oh you know me- I'm awesome" Sam joked as she backed away and took stock of him being in one piece.

"You gave us quite the scare" she said punching his arm and then looking remorseful as if she expected it to have hurt.

"Sorry" she said and then rubbed his arm where her hand had before attempted to lay punishment.

"So, did you see who it was?" She asked making his think that his mother had told her the same story as what the police had heard; that he'd been mowed down by a car rather than that he had deliberately crashed his car into an oncoming car.

"No, it was too dark" he answered as he gave her an honest look and restrained himself from looking in his mothers direction.

That was an art that he'd mastered over the years, how to keep emotions at bay and off his face.

"Okay, but be careful Sammy" Sarah squeezed his arm before carting her shopping bags from a trip to the mall away upstairs.

"Where's my car?" Sam turned to his mother once they were alone again.

She crossed the room and pulled open a drawer to reveal his wallet and phone. But she had yet to answer his question.

When she held his possessions out to him he raised an eyebrow and she sighed in reply to him repeating the question silently.

"Marcus arranged to have it taken away Sam. It's in a scrap yard somewhere, in tiny, little, metal block".

"Why? Why cover it up?"

"You know why Sam. We don't need the bad press and the girl you smashed into would only hound you for more and more money if she knew who you were. You were over the legal limit and one more strike and you know that you'd be serving time". His mothers cold tone served to remind him that she was right. He'd had too many brushes with the law lately to stay a free man and avoid more questions.

"Thank you" Sam said before turning on his heel and ascending the stairs up to his old room.

Once inside and alone Sam sat down on the end of the oversized bed and switched his phone on.

He had several missed calls from the office and a text message from Angelina saying all of two words- 'I'm sorry'.

This whole debacle was in a way her fault- if she hadn't eventually come out and voiced the truth then he wouldn't have been angry enough to grab a bottle of whiskey and leave his house in a blinding rage.

Flopping backwards Sam dropped his phone next to him as he let out a groan.

Then again his relationship with her had never really been solid enough to last.

Sure, she came from the same wealthy background that he did, and she moved in the right social circles to fit in, but there had never really been something there.

His inability to commit was another reason that she had probably screwed him around in any case and the fact that he was hardly ever with her. That was entirely his own fault.

But the lying for three years? That's what actually hurt the most. That and finding out that his so called son wasn't his to start with anyway.

The kid was the one thing that gave him true joy, it was what made him change his life and stop his partying. He'd calmed down and had become an honest, devoted man. The other women became a thing of the past, and he did less and less on the wrong side of the law- well except business but that was an entirely different matter.

Sam ran a hand across his face before sitting up and looking around a room that felt wrong to be in.

He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be at home.

Besides Angelina was probably long gone anyway.

...

"I can walk" Andy argued as her Dad swept a hand towards a wheelchair.

"I know but it's hospital policy" he argued and she let out a wince and sat down in the wheelchair.

He whirled her around and then pushed her across the threshold and towards the front door with ease.

Soon enough she was bundled into his car and driven home.

Once inside he fussed over her and made her sit down on the couch with her feet up.

He made her coffee and put her bags away and then returned to the lounge looking like he was ready to fall over. He looked tired and she knew that she was the reason behind it. He'd hardly even left her side for the four days that she had spent in the hospital for observation.

The phone rang and they both jumped a fraction as the shrill came unexpectedly.

Her Dad moved to answer it and then looked her way and held the receiver out. "Harry?".

Oh crap, her boss. She had forgotten all about him and she was meant to be returning to work this morning which had been hours ago. She had no idea where her phone was so obviously he had searched her personnel file for her Dad's home number seeing as he knew that she was here.

Andy took the receiver and winced, Harry was a nice boss but a bit of a ass when it came to talking to people nicely.

"I am so sorry" she started with the apology straight away.

"Where are you? I gave you the time off because you promised you'd be back and here your desk's empty".

"I had an accident Harry. I was only just released from the hospital this morning". Andy cleared her throat in an attempt to swallow telling him off.

"Okay, so you'll be back tomorrow then. You should have called me Andy".

"I can't be back tomorrow Harry. I haven't even seen the damage to my car yet and I need to go fill in a police report and wait for my car to be repaired. And I need to sort out the insurance".

"You can do all of that from the office Andy. I need you back here today okay". And there it was, Harry enforcing his authority as the boss and not giving a rats ass about anybody but himself and his company. He didn't even bother to ask if she was okay.

"No Harry I can't okay. I will not be coming home today to be back at the office tomorrow. I'm not allowed to drive for a week because I have a concussion but thanks for asking".

Oh crap, that should have been filtered.

"Andy if you're not in the office by nine tomorrow morning you're.."

"I quit okay. So you can't fire me" she cut him off. She was so sick of being his little robot. She'd worked for the company for five years and hadn't even taken a sick day. She had never asked for time off except this week to attend Oliver's funeral. She had never even left work early for a doctors appointment or any other reason, and she always put in extra hours and took work home with her over weekends.

"Oh and Harry?" She asked when she heard his stunned silence on the other end of the line. "Do not even think of screwing me over when you pay me out because I will come to your office and I will make the biggest scene with my lawyer".

Another thing she hated about working for Harry- he was so stingy. She worked for him for three years before she got a raise, and then he had to give it to her because the auditors were there when she got her promotion. Poor Sandy in reception had been docked a months pay when she broke her leg and ended up in traction so she hadn't been able to come to work and Harry had refused to pay her for it.

"Have a good life" Andy said before hanging up to find her dad smiling at her. Some things she inherited from her mother, namely her looks but she sure got her attitude and inability to filter her words from her dad.

"So, guess you're staying a while then huh?".

"Yup, guess so. Time for a vacation anyway" she said.

Looked like she'd be staying a while at least to get everything sorted out even though she swore that this would be a brief visit.

Hopefully she could turn it into a brief stay.

*******Thanks for reading! **

**So Andy's staying around for a while, I'm sure she'll run into Sam soon...**

**Let me know what you think?**

**Have an awesome day!**

**Jelly Bean Jenna©**


	5. Return

**Welcome back to everyone still here! I love all your ideas & speculations so keep them coming!**

**As always thanks to the regulars, kelly2727 & welcome to the newbies!**

**Chapter 5- Return. **

Traci stopped by a while before dinner with Andy's laptop, phone and some paperwork for her car.

That was the thing about having friends in the local police department, you had help that the ordinary person wasn't privileged to.

Andy guessed that either Traci had brought her bags to the hospital too or her dad had pulled some strings to get to them seeing as her car was now at the police impound but she'd had some of her possessions at her bedside when she woke up.

It was quite ironic really- she had never wanted to follow in her dads footsteps and become a cop, Traci a friend from her preschool day however had thought that the universe revolved around her dad because he was helping save the world. She had drooled over his service gun and said "One day I'm gonna be a cop" when they were eleven and here today Traci was just that, Andy's dad having been one of her TO's.

Andy had left home as soon as she turned eighteen and finished senior year but she had always stayed in touch with Traci and the space between them had never fused their friendship out in the slightest way.

Andy had; had it rough growing up after her mom died and she in turn couldn't wait to spread her wings and break free of the bad karma that shadowed her youth.

Her mom had been on her way to fetch her from school one sunny day in the second grade but she'd been hit by a drunk driver and had never made it to pick Andy up because she was rushed into the ER and then into a theatre to have a piece of steel that pierced her side and lung removed.

Andy had sat outside the school waiting and waiting until Oliver had arrived in a squad car with his lights flashing.

Andy had asked the first logical question that came to mind "Is Daddy okay?".

Oliver had knelt down in front of her and brushed her cheek saying "He's okay kiddo but your moms hurt so we need to go to the hospital".

Oliver had bundled her into the front of the squad car and raced towards the hospital with his sirens on making Andy panic that something was very wrong because her dad had always told her that sirens were used for emergencies only.

When they reached the hospital Oliver had taken her hand and walked her through the door and down a long white hallway. At the end of the hallway she saw a doctor talking to her dad who suddenly just burst into tears and Andy knew that her mom had gone to Heaven.

Back then and even now though, it always felt like her mom had left them even if she had actually been taken away rather than left of her own accord.

Since then Oliver had always been a part of her life, his family extending the two remaining McNally's into it.

He had been killed in the line of duty and now she regretted the fact that she had missed his funeral too and never got the chance to say goodbye. She had yet to go see Oliver's wife and daughters too, but if she was staying she'd get the chance.

"Hungry?" Her dads voice pulled her back to the present as she stared at the seventy odd unread emails that pinged into her inbox after having set up her laptop on the dining room table.

"Nah, but I'll get dinner from that Chinese place you like. Do they still deliver?" She asked.

"Chow's? Yup I'll phone the order through" her dad said setting her coffee down.

"Okay. Thanks Dad" Andy said smiling up at him warmly.

He really had been a good father, and a good husband and she'd never understand why he never remarried.

...

"Cancel everything except the Express. Cap it at one hundred" Sam told his banker from his phone at home.

He thought it was a generous offer considering everything. He'd called to cancel all of Angelina's cards and accounts except one that he'd leave with a hundred grand on it for her because without it she'd have nothing really.

She had family money but he doubted that she'd reach out to her father for help now that her pride had to be burned when he could gloat and tell her 'I told you so' just as he promised that he would the first day that she took Sam home to meet her parents.

Looking up Sam found Reeve in the doorway. "Cars ready Sammy".

Sam nodded and followed Reeve out to the waiting car where he got in and Reeve steered them towards the office.

It was the first time in a little over a week that he was going into the office and he supposed that it was probably time to do some actual work although Nathan would have everything under control.

Nathan had been his right hand since he took over Swarek International, his fathers multi-million dollar imports, exports, trucking and shipping company.

Nathan had been there every step of the way for the last eight years helping Sam turn the company into even more of a booming business venture. He was of course also involved in the more lucrative side of things, the side that kept the law looking into his shipping manifests and his weigh bills.

Besides the items listed on the invoices there were the occasional shipments that he made for friends and acquaintances, those being the more profitable kind.

But there were just some things that he refused to touch, namely those with a heartbeat.

It's what had gotten his father killed after all.

He moved gun and drugs, stolen cars and even a body once or twice, but never a living human. He refused to trade in humans and that was the one rule he had and the one rule that Nathan enforced in their business dealings.

Nathan had been there the night his father died so he knew exactly how seriously Sam was against human trafficking.

Arriving at the office Sam dismissed the curious looks he was given as he made his way to his office and looked out across the city through the massive glass windows.

It really was a nice view and always made it worth a trip down here.

A tap on his glass door revealed a smiling Beverly Parsons, his personal assistant.

She entered the room without waiting to be called in as she always did, carrying his coffee the way he always had it.

"Morning Mr Swarek" she positively beamed but he suspected that it was because she was heavily pregnant and today was her last day in before her maternity leave started.

Great, he'd forgotten about that, and he had no replacement lined up.

"Morning Beverly. How are you?" He asked when she handed him his coffee.

"I'm good. Excited now" she replied putting a hand on her stomach.

Remembering his gift for her in is drawer he set his coffee down and reached for it.

Handing her the box brought another huge smile to her face.

"Oh Mr Swarek you didn't have to get me anything" she reached out and took the box.

"It's a thank you" he said handing it over. "I um, need to find a temp, can you see if there's an agency that can send some recommendations over today?".

Beverly nodded and took her gift and left his office to get right on it. He hoped that she wouldn't find the cheque he had put inside the box as offensive, but her husband had been laid off a month ago and he knew that with the baby on the way they were worried about expenses. He'd made sure that all her medical costs would be covered through the company's medical plan, but she was truly a gem and he wanted her to spend the time enjoying her new family without any worries to spoil the happy time.

...

Andy surveyed the road, left then right then left again.

Traci was not all that thrilled about driving her out here but she needed to see for herself where she had the accident to settle the ghosts that her mind kept dragging up into her dreams.

Walking to where there were a few shards of glass laying in the dirt Andy brushed her hand over the pieces gently to clear the dust off them until she found a piece that stood out from the others. She picked it up and inspected it closely before turning to find Traci standing behind her.

She held the piece up to Traci stating a simple "My windows aren't tinted" as the darker glass shimmered in the sunlight.

Another ten minutes surveying the road left her with more questions. What caused the giant scorch mark on the road? Her car hadn't caught on fire as far as she knew. What made the groves that cut into the tar close to the scorch mark? It was jagged and irregular and not in a straight line, like her car could have made if a piece of steel had gouged into the tar.

Why were there no skid marks? She knew that she had hit the breaks and skidded.

Nothing was making sense and for the two days since being released from the hospital and coming here she knew that the longer she stayed the less chance she had of leaving because the more she looked into the accident the less answers she came up with.

Back home later that day Andy had found her dad in the kitchen swallowing a handful of tablets with some water when she walked into the house and his sudden nervousness made her inquisitive.

When she reached for the closest bottle containing tablets so did he, she was just way faster than he was and managed to latch onto the bottle first.

"Why are you taking morphine Dad?" She read the label then tried to get a read on him but he stonewalled her and kept his face in nuteral.

"Dad!" She yelled it a second later when he kept quiet and he visibly jumped before his shoulders slumped.

"I have cancer".

Andy backed up a few steps until her back met whatever was behind it and everything stopped.

Time stopped.

Her world stopped.

Her heart stopped.

"When did you find out?" She asked.

"I didn't want you to worry" he countered and then she knew. He'd had it for a while and had never told her.

"Dad why didn't you tell me?". She'd have called more if she knew, or come home to see him or sent him tickets to fly up to her.

"Andy, it wouldn't have changed it" he had said as she stepped closer and set the bottle down before wrapping her arms around him in regret.

She spent most of that night crying because there was nothing she could do to get the time that she had wasted back.

But now, she was working on making up for it.

She'd called her condo's agents and given notice and then a moving company to get her condo packed up and into storage for the time being.

Next she sent her CV out to a few agencies around town stating that she'd moved home and was looking for a new job.

Her dad hadn't said much about the cancer after that or the fact that it started to look like she was moving back in when she went out a bought a new wardrobe and some bedding that didn't have lace and ribbons on it.

But when he looked at her and she saw the appreciation in his eyes she knew that he was more than glad that she was home and staying. He was happy to have his little girl home.

While hoping to hear from one of the agencies that she'd contacted in the hopes of finding a job, Andy tried to get in to see her car and the damage but she hadn't been allowed to because the insurance assessors had barred anyone from access to her car.

She called the insurance company asking for answers and a copy of the report that was emailed over the next day.

Discrepancies had been questioned between the police report and that of the unnamed stranger than called the accident in because of silver paint that had been scratched off another car and onto hers.

There were several marks consisting of silver paint chips that didn't belong to a metal barrier so the insurance company had put her cars claim on hold pending an investigation.

Both the police report and the passerby's statement said that she was alone on that road and that her vehicle was the only one on that road but when she gave her statement she was honest and declared that she had hit another car, a silver one and had assumed that they had driven away after the accident because they were perhaps intoxicated, under age, or had no licence or a suspended licence.

She in turn mailed a copy of her statement to the insurance assessors and would have to wait for a response for her claim for a new car because hers had been deemed un-repairable and written off.

Sending Traci a text she asked her to get a copy of the passerby's statement because his or her details had been blacked out on the copies sent to her by the insurance company and she wanted to know who they were in case she needed to contact them and ask some questions of her own.

Traci mailed her the copy half an hour later but all Andy now had was a name Marcus Ramm Not that he was listed or showed up on google because she checked.

So she let it go and that was that- for now.

Getting ready for an interview was always painstaking.

The perfect outfit, and more makeup than she usually wore. The right hairstyle to match the rest of it as well as the balancing accessories.

Taking an approving look at herself in the mirror Andy settled her nerves by saying "You can do this" to her reflection.

She had only ever been for two interviews before this one- one at a department store when she first left home and then one at Harry's firm before she started there.

She shouldn't be phased by repeating the motion now because she was used to working under pressure and thrived in it.

She had been hired by Harry as an assistant and worked her way up to his personal assistant in a few months. But being Harry's personal assistant meant that you did your work and his while he was playing golf or out to business lunches or on vacation in the Bahamas.

She'd learned fast and her mind was like a sponge in the first year working for Harry. There were plenty of people willing to help and teach her to make her life easier and so she let them.

Working in the construction trade as a woman was hard, they spoke a completely different lingo but she managed to find her roots and solidify her name.

She could talk metric volume of a shipment, or give the guys the wight of the shipment in tonnage off the top of her head. She learned to tell a when a building needed steel columns in additional places by just looking at a technical drawing or if doors or windows were going to be delayed because the cement floors had to first be poured and then left to cure for twenty-four days before it was considered dry enough.

She had even mastered the skill of estimating an average cost down to the last brick and bag of tile grouting within a few hundred dollars.

Something she was pretty proud of, because truthfully- how many women could make a name for themselves in the construction business without even leaving their office and going to the actual building site?

Not many.

Closing the door of her dads house behind her, Andy let her heels carry her to the waiting cab as she watched the cabbie's face turn to perv over the short skirt of her two piece suite.

It wasn't exactly the perfect outfit, but hey, hers were packed in her condo in boxes until the end of the month when she could either choose to drive down and go fetch them, or have them dumped into storage along with the rest of her worldly possessions.

But it didn't really matter right now, clothes were the least of her problems as she watched her dad battle with fatigue and nausea from all the medication that he was on.

In the last week he'd even managed to take a sick day, something that she couldn't even remember him ever doing before.

*******Another one done and dusted. **

**So, who wants more?**

**Have an awesome day!**

**Jelly Bean Jenna©**


	6. Introductions

**Hello again, hope you're all ready for more! Thank you for all your awesome reviews & the follows & favs!**

**Welcome to my world if you're a newbie!**

**Chapter 6- Introductions. **

Sam scanned each one of the files that Beverly had brought in to him with a fresh cup of coffee. He spent his time between sips of coffee reading their portfolio's looking for the right person to fill in for her.

Amber Jardine, twenty-five temp assignments only. Worked for a large department store chain as PA to the Director.

Ashley Nipper, thirty-two, worked as the assistant to the Financial Director of a local bank but resigned and moved away. Moved home after getting divorced.

Pepper Slone, nineteen worked as her fathers assistant at Global Printing but looking to find her own feet out in the world.

All three women had so far not really jumped off the pages at him. Their profile photos were of smiling women who were neat and pretty but they all lacked in the pick me department.

Sam had some of his coffee before opening the next file to find the words _latest applicant no photo available _stamped on the agencies photo profile page.

Andrea McNally, twenty-six. Recently relocated to Toronto. School studies indicated a local education but her employment record was far from home meaning that she'd moved back. She had listed two jobs on her resume, one as a teller at a department store for six months and then at a construction company for five years.

She had a little more experience in the transport field as Sam scanned her listed duties of Transportation of building materials and fittings.

Reaching the end of the short resume Sam scoffed when he read her salary requirements as they were so low that he didn't have the faintest idea why she had even bothered to put it on there.

Closing her file Sam moved on to the next one when a searing heat shot up his arm as soon as he touched the top file on the pile in front of him.

It didn't last long, and had subsided as quickly as it had begun but his hasty movements of pulling his hand back effectively knocked the files that he had already been through off the edge of his desk and they scattered across the floor beside him.

Flexing his hand open and closed as he inspected his flesh, Sam took a second to regain control of himself before looking down and finding the photoless file open on the floor covering the others mostly.

Picking it up Sam closed it and then reached for the others slowly while expecting another round of displeasure to race through him.

Finding none Sam reopened Andrea McNally's file before buzzing Beverly to get an appointment with her.

Leaning back in his chair as he looked out the large glass windows of his office Sam wondered what he was doing.

He had never been superstitious or believed in the ... Unexplained, and here he was taking a cramp as a sign.

Since the accident Sam had; had nightmares plague his sleep as the haunting screams of a woman rang through his mind. The terror that wrapped around her tone had him waking up night after night drenched in sweat in his disheveled bed.

The dark eyes that had looked into his had often been there too, an emptiness always filling him when he woke up startled. It was starting to feel like every time he had one of those nightmares that a small piece of himself was left behind, trapped on the side of the road when he returned to open eyes and heavy breathing in reality.

His brief brush with death, or insanity, had really gotten under his skin and by the way that things were going- it didn't look as though it would be changing any time soon.

...

Andy looked up at the building once she was out of the cab.

It was a high-rise with glistening windows and steel trimmings. It was elegant and sophisticated but had soft curves and looked inviting.

The design was flawless and smooth, a combination of edges and curves making it a well designed structure.

The interior was much the same, the minimal furnishings in the lobby along with white wall tiles and grey and white marble floors giving it a spacious but a warm feeling.

Andy announced herself to the smiling receptionist and was told to take the elevator to the tenth floor where she was expected and she did just that.

Stepping off the elevator upstairs however left her breathless as she took in her surroundings.

There were a few walls, but they were from the ground up to waist level, and the rest was glass, natural sunlight filtering into every room that she could see.

"Ms McNally?" A warm voice startled her and Andy found a smiling face in front of her.

"Yes hi" she said as she felt her blush tint her cheeks. Of course the woman knew who she was, she had an appointment and in a building like this the receptionist downstairs had called upstairs to announce her arrival.

The woman had caught her openly gaping at the entire floor and it was cause for embarrassment.

"This way. And don't worry, everyone does that their first time up here".

Andy relaxed as the pregnant woman led her towards the very back of this floor.

Walking behind the woman Andy felt strange; as though she was walking on air.

Taking a deep breath she shook her head slightly hoping that her nerves would settle and her vision would right itself.

The woman had a strange grey ... Look about her, one that was really out of place. It wasn't that she looked grey, she looked fine, it was more like the air around her was thick and grey.

**Shadows from the sunlight** Andy chanted in her mind until they reached a door with massive silver handles and she held it open for Andy to walk into the room.

Andy walked into the room and noticed the man at his desk staring out the windows as if possessed in complete appreciation of the view.

It certainly was a spectacular view of the city, it reached in and snagged your attention while taking your breath away.

When the man turned to face her and smiled before standing up and holding out his hand to introduce himself Andy was surprised to say the least.

He wore dark blue jeans and a T-shirt not exactly what she was expecting from the CEO of a company like this. His attire mismatched the entire decor and design of the building- but it somehow suited him.

"Miss McNally" he said as Andy extended her hand and their skin met.

If Sam had ever thought that he had experienced pain before this moment, he'd been wrong.

So very, very wrong.

Nothing in his life even came close to what he felt when he reached out and shook the dainty hand extended to him.

He recalled the pain he felt during the accident when it was wrapped around him and was accompanied by a sick and twisted snigger from the man in black.

Not even that came close to what he felt now.

Dropping her hand and pulling his back, Sam tried to take a breath as he watched her look down in some kind of unreadable expression at her own hand.

She however, did not look like she felt any discomfort in any way.

"Please sit" Sam motioned to the chair behind her and she did as asked.

Sam followed and just sat watching her while making an attempt to school his own features.

"I have a temporary position available as my personal assistant until Beverly returns from maternity leave. It includes all the office duties for me only as the company has a receptionist downstairs. From time to time it may include attending events or parties as my assistant. On occasion it will also require you to travel and to be able to obtain personal files from my home should there be a meeting as some things are stored there. As you can see I'm hardly here".

The woman across from him was very observant, she nodded when he made that statement.

"Salary wise, you will be paid what you were earning at the construction company times four. Do you have a car?".

"I can get around" Andy managed to not sound like she was ready to do a happy dance.

"Not what I asked" Sam leaned forwards and set his clasped hands down on the table.

"No, but it will not be a problem". She didn't know what else to say, she couldn't exactly tell the CEO and her new boss, that she had an accident and didn't have access to her car right now.

Sam looked over her shoulder to find Beverly watching them with interest. She felt bad at the possibility of leaving him without someone to fill in for her.

Sam picked up his phone and called through to her. "Get Miss McNally a car and parking garage pass" and then he hung up.

"Mr Swarek, that's really nice but this is only a temp fill in so I don't need a car, really".

"Miss McNally, if I call you at two am and need a file because one of my freighters lost a container carrying lithium batteries, I do not expect you to hail a cab to come down here, and then another to bring me the file. As long as you have a drivers licence the insurance will cover the rest should there be a problem".

Sam was sure that it was her. And he wasn't above testing the theory to have her confirmation.

The streaks of red in her hair in the sunlight threw him off but her hair was the right length. The way she paled at the mention of car insurance also told him that she was experiencing some difficulty with her insurance company at the moment. As a result of the accident...

"Okay". She replied.

"There are no set working hours except nine to one in the office Monday to Friday. But sometime problems do arise and when that happens it can be anytime day or night".

"That's fine Sir". Andy mumbled unsure if the Sir was warranted or not.

"Okay, see you tomorrow at nine then. You are available tomorrow?" Sam added. He hadn't even asked her when her availability started.

"Tomorrow at nine".

"Beverly will show you around and then someone will come up and escort you to your car" Sam stood up and waved Beverly in as Andrea waved politely but kept her hand to herself. She by no means wanted to go back to shaking his hand.

Finding Beverly outside the door Andy tried to avoid looking at her as the grey shadow still clung to her. It was creepy.

"This way" Beverly said before taking Andy on a tour.

The rooms up here were few, they consisted of a boardroom, a kitchen and several unused office spaces. There was a mens room and a ladies room and a janitors closet that was probably the size of her dads house.

Beverly briefed her on where everything was, how Mr Swarek took his coffee, and where to phone for his lunch deliveries.

Beverly handed her a list of the food places as well as Mr Swarek's contact numbers, email addresses and his home addresses. Then there were the basic groceries list that she had to make sure were stocked in the kitchen. Milk, coffee, sugar and biscuits.

Everything else was done by the cleaning service who came in at five am every morning.

Andy was handed a set of keys and Beverly showed her which one opened what door or cabinet.

She handed Andy a form to fill in and requested a copy of her ID for her to pass on to the payroll department to add her to the payments run.

Next Beverly handed her a garage card for gas and smiled over her shoulder just as someone arrived.

"Reeve, this is Andrea McNally. She'll be filling in for me. This is Reeve Mr Swarek's... Assistant". Beverly chimed and Mr Reeve nodded.

"Follow me please" he said looking at Andy then Beverly. "Good luck with the baby Bev".

Beverly smiled and waved as they departed and headed for the elevator.

Down in the parking garage Mr Reeve stopped at a security booth before rejoining her and holding out a set of keys.

"Black Audi" he said pointing to a small but way too flashy car.

"Oh no, don't you have a Hyundi or a Polo or something?" She asked.

"Mr Swarek's insistence" Mr Reeve nodded and then left her standing there stunned. The 'little black Audi' probably cost more than her Dads house.

Sam watched Andrea follow Beverly through the floor as she briefed her on the standards do's because he had no don't do's really.

The more he watched her the more he was sure that she was the woman that he'd crashed into. It was more of a gut feeling than surety- but he was going to find out.

A loud sound echoed through the room and Sam turned to see a small bird slid down the glass of his window. When a second one slammed into the glass he jumped at it's unexpected death as it too slid down the glass and dropped out of sight.

Strange that it was the first time that he knew of that ever happening.

...

"So, what are we celebrating?" Traci asked as she joined Andy at a table of the Black Penny.

She had gone home and told her dad the good news about getting a job, even though it was a temp one, and then she sent Traci a text telling her to meet up at the Penny after shift for celebratory drinks.

Andy had arrived first but didn't mind waiting as it had been forever since she'd been to the Penny.

"I got a job" Andy said handing Traci a glass of wine.

"That's great! Where?".

"Swarek International".

"Wow, really? Doing what?"

"Personal assistant to Mr Sam Swarek". Andy boasted and Traci choked on the sip of wine that she had just taken.

"Say that again" Traci stammered out after a light cough.

"Why? What's wrong?". Andy knew Traci well enough to know that there was something about what she just said.

"Don't you have google? He's like a total hottie, but he's also a playboy and party animal".

Explained the jeans.

"He's like the CEO, but he spends more time gracing local news. He's had a few run ins with us too, but nothing major". Traci added.

"Traci I don't really care what he does in his spare time, he's paying me so I should be grateful even if it's a temp job. I need to stay around for a while" she said. She hadn't really told Traci about her Dad's cancer yet, and didn't want to now because it would spoil the mood.

"Okay, you're right. Let's celebrate" Traci said lifting her glass up for Andy to clink hers to in a toast.

By the third glass of wine Andy was enjoying herself, something that was hard to come by these days.

Before coming back here she had not really been a socialite and hardly ever went out. It had probably been at least two years since she had even been on a date.

Since coming back here, the accident had weighed heavily on her mind and then with the news of her Dad's cancer her world just stopped.

Focusing on the present Andy looked up and into the lopsided grin of a dark haired guy that had stopped at their table.

"Hi Trace. Hi, I'm Chris" he extended his hand Andy's way as he introduced himself.

"Hi, this is Andy my oldest and dearest friend" Traci chimed in to make the introduction on Andy's behalf.

"You mean your only friend" Andy giggled out and smiled politely at Chris. She however didn't extend her hand towards him. Not after what it felt like to shake Mr swarek's hand.

The thought made her shiver.

"Get a beer and join us?" Traci asked Chris who nodded and walked to the bar to do just that.

"He just transferred in from Timmons" Traci added.

"Oh no" Andy let the words come out in laughter, she could tell exactly what Traci was hinting at.

"Oh come on, he's cute".

"So am I" Andy lifted her glass up and Traci mimicked the action, the two glasses softly clinked together.

*******Thanks for reading! Hope you're still enjoying? Let me know in a review...**

**Jelly Bean Jenna©**


	7. Triggers & Tempers

**Welcome back to another update! Hope you enjoy!**

**Thanks to everyone who has read & reviewed this so far!**

**Chapter 7- Triggers & Tempers. **

Nathan was on time as always, Sam had never known him to be late for anything.

He'd been punctual with the background check that Sam had requested on Andrea McNally after her late afternoon interview.

It had taken fifteen minutes before he had a stack of papers including photos of her in his hand.

"There are more requests for a shipment to be moved" Nathan said as he took his seat across from Sam at the table of the restaurant.

This one was easy to use as a meeting place because he owned it so there was always a private table at the back waiting for him.

"What is it?".

"Something the Yakuza wants to bring in". Nathan said and poured himself a glass of cognac.

Sam abandoned the rest of his dinner, he'd never been one to stomach food with business.

"What?" He asked again.

Nathan handed him a piece of paper and Sam let out a groan. It was a tatty photo of three Japanese children.

"No".

"Sammy, they're not being trafficked, they're Wong's children".

"I don't care okay. There's a chance that they won't even make the trip so no. No heartbeats".

Sam pushed his chair back and stood up. He left Nathan watching him leave.

...

**Once the darkness is inside it never leaves. **

**Once the darkness is inside it never leaves. **

She woke up with those words rotating through her mind like a warning.

It chilled her to the bone because of what she remembered the strange woman saying to her just over a week ago.

Ready for work Andy left her Dad's home in the black Audi driving like a grandma.

Sure Mr Swarek had reassured her that the insurance would cover virtually everything, she just didn't want to show up at work on the first day with a scratched paint job or a dinged fender.

Parking in the garage below the office block Andy made her way upstairs a little nervous about her first day.

It was only eight-twenty so she was early but that didn't mean a thing when it came to actually doing what she had to do.

Beverly had been kind enough to explain what a shipping manifest was, as well as import taxes and exchange rates and that, but what she feared was actually having to look something up if Mr Swarek wanted it and she didn't know what she was looking for.

Andy unlocked the door to the floor just off the elevator and stepped inside as the smell of furniture and floor polish wafted through the air.

She put her purse down on the end of her new desk and then turned the computer on and headed for the kitchenette and put the kettle on.

Coming out of the kitchenette Andy had the sudden need to wash her hands so she slipped inside the bathroom and turned on the faucet.

Rinsing her hands off Andy glanced up into the mirror to see a reflection that wasn't her own looking back at her.

She gasped and stepped back her knees shaking as the image rippled like a pool of water.

"The darkness is coming"

It was Leyla, the woman Andy had seen at the accident scene.

"What does that even mean?" Andy stammered out and took a step towards the mirror.

"Hide" Leyla said before vanishing.

Andy reached for the faucet and turned it off when a door closed close by and she froze.

"Hide" Leyla's words echoed through the room.

Taking her heels of Andy chucked them into one of the bathroom stalls and closed the door. Next she went over to the bathroom door and cracked it open to peer outside into an empty hallway.

"Go" Leyla's voice could be heard so Andy slipped through the room and took a left out of instinct. In a corner hidden out of sight Andy found a door with a fire escape sign on it but turning the handle she found it locked.

Crap.

Moving back down the hall Andy dived for her desk when she heard the voices of two men and she barely made it to get cover in time.

When their footsteps and voices sounded further away Andy felt around on top of her table for the bunch of keys and found them with ease.

Clutching them in her hand Andy slid out from under her desk and retreated back to the staircase hidden away.

She could still hear the men in the offices, loud bangs accompanying their soft voices.

Andy unlocked the door with a shaking hand and managed to slip through just in time to see one of the men baring down on her in the hallway.

Finding no point in keeping quiet she slammed the door closed and turned the key in the lock before scampering down the stairs blindly.

Having no idea where to get off the stairwell Andy fled all the way down the flights of stairs until there was nowhere left to go besides out the door.

As soon as the door was open she ran into something hard as a scream tore from her throat.

"Andrea" Mr Swarek's voice sounded close by and she opened her eyes to find him the object that she had crashed into.

"They're ransacking your office" she yelped out and backed away from him in time to see Reeve and two security guys approaching them at a run.

They heard her and didn't stop, Reeve issuing orders while one of the uniformed security guards yelled into his radio.

"Come" Mr Swarek said and reached for her hand, the same cold feeling it had given her the last time when they shook hands again spreading through her.

He however found it unbearable to touch her and dropped her hand as soon as he touched it with a curse under his breath.

A car screeched to a halt in front of them and Mr Swarek opened the back door. Andy got in and he followed, the driver speeding out of the garage and fleeing into traffic.

"You okay?" Mr Swarek asked as soon as they drove into the daylight.

"Yes".

"Are you sure?" He questioned again and she nodded. She could just imagine what she looked like right now.

A phone rang and Mr Swarek fished it out of his pocket before answering it with "Go".

"Find them damnit. How did they even get into the building?". He slammed he phone down on the seat between them making Andy slide a little further away to put some space between them.

"I'm sorry" he said sounding calmer.

The driver sped relentlessly, Andy having no idea where they were even going.

"My house" Sam said. It was easy to read her questions, she just had one of those faces. The kind that spoke the truth even when you didn't want it too.

"Just for a few hours until we know you're safe" he added at her frown.

Andy turned and looked out the tinted window as they approached the outside of town. The upper class side of town.

She had guessed that Mr Swarek lived here somewhere because she didn't recognize his address as a street that she knew when Beverly gave it to her.

She had spent some time on google last night after drinks with Traci and had learned a whole heap about Mr Swarek.

Words like tycoon and playboy and trouble were always stitched together alongside his name.

He came from a wealthy family that not only owned Swarek International but also several other business throughout town. There were five restaurants, two boutiques, a car dealership and some jewelry stores. All high end stuff.

He'd also been labeled as quite the party animal and womanizer but in recent feeds had seemed to have calmed down. There was mention of his girlfriend and a son and a few snapshots of them but they seemed to be kept out of the spotlight.

Following the green hedges Andy watched as they pulled up in front of huge black cast iron gates that swung open on command, a long winding driveway leading up to a...house?

Nope mansion was the right terminology here.

The car stopped and just as her hand reached for the door it opened, a slight wince gasped out of her mouth.

A man wearing a suite stood in front of her as she climbed out, another on Mr Swarek's side of the car.

A phone rang and Andy heard a voice yell into it sternly as curse words flew around the air just as another suite came into view.

"Language Nathan" Mr Swarek barked before looking at her apologetically.

Nathan smiled her way and mumbled sorry as he passed her.

"Go inside Andrea" Mr Swarek instructed and she obeyed because by the annoyed look on his face she didn't want to stick around.

Andy took in the room of wooden antiques and well decorated drapes, soothing browns warming the room up even though the inside of his house felt empty.

Hearing footsteps Andy turned to find an elderly woman that was obviously the housekeeper smiling at her.

"Miss McNally" she greeted as she stepped forwards with a tray bearing teas and coffees.

She set the tray down and was gone.

Andy poured herself a coffee with a shaking hand. She set it down afraid that her rattles would crack the china teacup as it rocked back and forth on the saucer.

"You need the sugar".

The voice made Andy jump.

It was Nathan, the man with a mouth like a sailor.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" he said stepping forward.

"It's my fault, I'm still jumpy" Andy said by way of accepting his apology.

"You okay?" He asked giving her a once over to which she nodded.

"Need anything?".

This time she shook her head. What she needed didn't appear on the top of anyone's list right now and that was to go home and get back into bed.

"They didn't..."

"What? Oh no, I managed to get out without getting seen until I had to close the door" Andy said.

"Did you see them? Did they see you?".

Andy nodded and looked down. "One of them. I think there were two. Caucasian, tall, blonde hair". Andy said.

"Which one?" Nathan asked.

"Same one. I didn't see the other one".

"Would you recognize him?".

Andy nodded and he pulled out his phone where he scrolled to a photo and held it up for her to see.

"Yup". Andy said.

"Okay, sit tight" Nathan said and gave her a warm smile.

Mr Swarek came into the room and Andy watched Nathan nod in his direction before it was returned and Nathan left.

It was unreal the level of communication. That the two had going on, something Andy hadn't really seen much of.

"Sit down before you fall down" Mr Swarek held out her untouched coffee to her. She took it and sat down.

He just had this way with words- you wanted to do exactly as he said because you didn't want to find out what the repercussions would be if you didn't.

He made himself coffee and sat down on a couch next to her single seater. "Are you okay?" He sounded much warmer than he did when issuing instructions.

"Yes thank you".

"I'm sorry you had to go through that" Mr Swarek stated sounding really remorseful.

"Who were they?".

"People that you don't have to worry about" Mr Swarek said with ease.

"Security will be upped at the office and I would prefer if Reeve drove you around. I'll have someone watching you..."

"Mr Swarek, what is this about? I don't need someone driving me around, and I don't need someone watching my every move" Andy set her cup down on the beautifully carved wooden table at her feet.

"I'm sorry. It's just a precaution although I think that there is no threat to you. I hope you won't reconsider accepting the job offer as a result of this".

Really?

What was wrong with this guy?

Some goons ransack his office and he's worried about her turning his job offer down?

Hmph, a life time of partying had really decreased brain activity.

"Okay, let's do this. I'll have a room here turned into an office instead. And you can drive yourself or take a cab?".

Andy resisted the urge to let out a huge giggle. There was no way that this guy was for real.

"Mr Swarek, the office is fine" she tried to say it without laughing.

"Okay". He said and then slipped away into some seriously deep thought as his jaw clenched.

He really was so spoiled and used to getting his own way.

Mr Swarek left a short while later while Andy just sat around taking everything in.

She had seen him leave with Reeve and Nathan and drive away without so much as a word to her.

The housekeeper stopped by with iced tea and soon lunch of poached salmon and salad followed.

Andy felt like she was in a cheap movie, one with bad blue screens and unbelievable stunts.

Soon dusk was approaching as Andy watched the sun sink below the horizon and light up the leaves of the trees on the property.

She noticed a car coming up the driveway, Mr Swarek's return finally occurring.

That would hopefully signal home time for her because she had told her dad that she wouldn't be home too late.

The front door opened and slammed closed, a single set of footsteps rushing across the floor with hard steps.

Andy called out but didn't get an answer so she listened to find the noise heading up the stairs.

Climbing the giant staircase Andy called out again but was met with silence as her feet met carpet. It explained why she didn't hear any further noises.

Sam sensed her before he saw her, his hand tossing his bloodied shirt to the ground in front of his bed where she wouldn't see it if she opened the door.

He grabbed a clean T-shirt and pulled it over his head just as a knock sounded on the door.

She knocked once and then barged in not really caring what she'd find on the other side of the closed door.

"May I leave now?" She asked without hesitation standing with her hand still holding the door handle.

"Reeve will take you home. He'll pick you up at eight and bring you here. I'll have the car brought back here for you tomorrow".

Andy opened her mouth to say something but when Mr Swarek's eyes flashed with fire she closed her mouth again without saying a single word.

Finding Mr Reeve downstairs waiting at the font door for her Andy wondered how these people communicated because there seemed to be actions but no words exchanged between them.

As Mr Reeve opened the door and Andy stepped through it into the last of the fading sunlight the only thing that Andy could think about was what the hell had she gotten herself into here?

Sam watched Reeve open Andrea's door and she climbed in from his bedroom window.

He could feel an odd emotion that he subconsciously tagged as one of hers because it wasn't one of his own.

He had sensed her outside his bedroom the same way he had sensed her being in trouble this morning. That's why he was taking the fire escape stairs instead of the elevators up to his office.

It felt like they were linked in some way, like when her emotions raged out of control he could feel them.

Touching her had again caused him severe pain this morning; another thing that was inexplicable.

Watching Reeve drive her away Steven Peck's words echoed through his mind _'The darkness is coming and it will take her from you'._

Once Andrea had confirmed his suspicions and identified Peck, Sam had Nick picked him up by pushing his car off the road.

Nick had his boys take Peck and his partner to a container storage warehouse where they tied them up and waited for Sam to arrive.

Sam had asked the basic questions; who sent you, what do you want blah blah blah and Peck had just sat there with his eyes closed the entire time.

Leaning in closer to Peck, Sam repeated his question of what do you want when Peck finally moved and and opened his eyes, pitch black orbs staring at Sam.

He had let out a sick laugh in Sam's ear before whispering _'The darkness is coming and it will take her from you'._

Hearing that made Sam's resolve snap as every last nerve ending flipped on and rage burned through him so deeply that he didn't even remember moving over to Reeve, grabbing his gun and putting it to Peck's head before pulling the trigger.

The sound echoed through the room and had snapped Sam back to the present where he stood looking down at Peck's slumped over body.

He had dropped the gun and left the container storage warehouse and walked out to the car where he tried to draw in a breath.

"You okay?" Nathan asked stepping out of the shadows.

"Do I look okay?" Sam had asked.

He had always had a temper, always kept a tight handle on his anger except for once a long time ago, and again tonight.

Peck had uttered words that didn't really make sense and pointed to no person in particular yet it had made his well curbed rage overboil.

"What was that all about?" Nathan asked eyeing Sam. He had been there the last time that Sam had lost it too, only that night he had voiced several warnings before firing a single shot.

Facing Nathan, Sam shrugged. "I have no idea".

And that was the truth because he had no idea what had come over him in those thirty seconds.

Even now, hours later in the solitude of his sanctuary he had no idea who or what he was anymore.

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**Jelly Bean Jenna©**


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